Plenty of Sunshine

Newsflash: Arizona is HOT.  I think it was 108 out today and I still dragged Ellie and Luke out to two malls and Target.  Some of the kids are already burnt. The first day of summer vacation all of my kids and their friends were running around in their swimsuits and I could not get over how dark all they were and it was still only May. I always say the perk of Arizona is that you don't have to shovel sunshine, but I'm nervous that the heat has already started so early.

So what do *we* do in the summertime?  Pretty much nothing that they sing about in the song from my childhood.  You get two options.  1. Stay inside. 2. Get into some water. And so we swim.

Luke just finished up his 2 weeks of swim lessons. He made some great improvements and we love love his swim teacher Laurel (who has taught all of my kids to swim). He can come up to take breaths and kick himself across the pool, he just looks a little silly doing it.

We've used our Big Surf tickets twice already (out of 3 weekdays). I was not sure about getting these tickets and I thought they'd be a huge waste of money, but it's been so much fun for all of us.  Luke can do so many things there and between Ellie and her friends or my friends taking turns watching the little ones, we've all been able to do some slides ourselves.

 

The kids run around with their friends and we grabbed them here or there to make sure they reapply sunscreen or get some pizza into their stomachs.

Wednesdays are summer movies. For about $7 you get passes to see 10 movies (repeats) at the movie theater over the summer.  The place is always mobbed with mothers and children (four theaters worth) but you can't beat the price, even if we haven't made it to one movie yet.

Fridays are always playgroup at someone's pool. As the kids get bigger, the pools seem smaller, but it's fun for them to all catch up after 9 months of being in different schools and rarely getting to see each other.

In our first 4 days of break we also managed to squeeze in Cub Scout Day camp for Nate.

 

And dinner with two sets of friends.  Crab legs and filet mignon?  Yes, please!

Summers in my memory are always magical.  Swimming at my grandparent's country club all day followed by a burger at the grill. Getting ice cream at Friendly's.  Jumping on the trampoline. My Grandma's cinnamon rolls. Going for horseback rides with my Grandpa. Playing paper dolls with my Aunt Kristine. Boating at Palisades.  I wonder if my kids will think of these summers as part of a charmed childhood or if they'll just remember how dang hot it was.